However, the first few years are quite different! You might also want to consider asking for gardening-related gifts. My Gift Guide for Permaculture Gardeners includes some of my favorite products that make gardening with nature a fun and rewarding experience!

Stay focused on the small actions you can take to move forward, and your dreams will become reality! What is your tip for starting a garden on a budget?

Share it in the comments below! I always save seeds for the next year, then I trade seeds with family and friends who save seeds from other plants.

This last spring I traded Buttercup and Acorn squash seeds for Indian corn, sweet corn, green beans, and peppers. This is a great idea…how wonderful that you can share in the joy of gardening with your family!

what seeds can use save and use the next year to plant and grow. I do gardening and on a budget. The same can be said for my cold frame that was used, but still fully functional.

Gardening tools can be bought at a greatly discounted price, if they have been used. I make my own free beneficial nesting material by locating old elderberry stalks in winter. Then, cutting the stems with a hack-saw. Be sure to research the seed companies to find the best price.

It was necessary for me to pay a little more to get a certain type of seed so I can try something new or the type of tomato I wanted. As in the article research is very helpful. Try your county extension office for info about these things. Doing a garden little by little is such good advice.

Not having resources of time and money is often a blessing. In fact, not having them can actually save you time and money! Are they all from your garden? It is quite the puzzle to think that not having time and money can save you time and money?!

Yet it is so true. Thanks for the compliments on the photos. Yep, they are all from my garden except the one that links to Small Town Homestead. Thanks for the tips :. Just recently discovered your blog and am really enjoying it! Please check back with your progress 🙂.

Low or no cost alternatives to raised beds is a lasagna style bed layers of material for plants to grow in. It can also be the start of a in ground garden proper drainage and vermiculture.

My main expense is the annual rent of a rototiller heavy clay soil with 10 years of amendments are producing good results tomatoes crushed their cages and green tomatoes were selectively ripened harvested before hard frost until New Years.

Best expenditure is a good soil test,you have to know where you are starting from. A soil test is certainly an important piece of knowing the land you wish to garden. Thanks for the tip 🙂. doing research before start and your info was so good. I have small space behind house and want to make something good of it.

thinking to have new hobby. after reads some info I decide to use pallet beds for gardening. its very low cost and suitable with the space. anyway thanks for your very useful tips. from Malaysia. tropical rainforest climate. Last year I took a cheap hydroponic basil plant from a supermarket and snipped it up into 2-inch segments and grew whole plants out of it.

The safest approach is to blend half topsoil with half compost. Full of toxins as well as weed seeds. In my beds, what worked well for me was organic topsoil and compost, horse manure from a local farm, supplemented with organic matter from my own property such as homemade compost, shredded leaves, grass clippings, composted wood chips, etc.

The more variety you add, the more well rounded the nutrient complex of your soil mix will be. Only limit yourself by insisting on chemical free organic matter. In super wet climates, adding something like vermiculite will lighten the soil and help it dry out faster. Again, it all depends on the conditions of the site.

Doing research would have saved me time and money for sure! After months of research I make better, faster compost, and am slowly accumulating pollinator friendly plants. Very easy and well explained. The start-up is always hard, you wait, time passes and nothing happened.

I will surely start my own garden this year. I filled it with good black dirt bordered with high edging and then rock. Planted onions around the edge, then calendulas, comfrey, anise hyssop, yarrow, and finally white clover in the inner circle. After harvesting the onions, planted daffodil bulbs in the outer perimeter.

Anxious to see the return this spring. Hope this helps the soil and rids my problem of flies causing the maggot problem. Love your book and your approach to gardening and growing. Just wanted to share some tidbits on budget and gardening: Last year, I tracked how much we spent on produce for 6 months for a family of 3 and exactly what yield we got from our vegetable garden.

The yield was still less than we invested for the year because we built new raised beds last spring, but we can grow the same produce or more this year with only the cost of seeds, so our yield will far outpace our input.

My goal for future years is to produce more and more of our groceries in our yard. Reddit has a seedswap group that has already provided me with 6 new seed varieties for the cost of a couple stamps! I scrounge from construction sites.

Find large pieces of sheet goods, lumber, windows, etc. Straw bales are great for filling the beds plus manure from coop and gathered manure in the horse pasture. Lots and lots of shredded leaves. The yard scoops are massively generous!

Thank you so much for these tips! These small actionable steps are so useful. Cheers for the reminder that starting small and slow is still starting somewhere — momentum always builds once we take that first step! This is what I understand to be the nature of the permaculture journey anyway — to take things slowly, observe if and how it works, iterate on that and bit by bit, create a thriving system uniquely adapted to the climate and landscape around you.

A really easy and inexpensive way to do this is to plant up some hanging baskets. Choose plants such as fuchsias, verbena or petunias, or you can even grow vegetables like tomatoes. Even better, low-maintenance gardeners can opt for pre-planted hanging baskets for instant results.

Shop now: Hanging Woven Chicken Wire Basket, Crocus. READ MORE: The best hanging basket plants for a vibrant display. A cost effective way to fill flowerbeds with great-looking plants is to buy perennials that you can divide. This may sound like advanced level gardening but it really isn't.

It will work with clump-forming perennials such as geums, astrantia and hardy geraniums. Simply tip the plant out of its pot and pull it apart into two or three bits, each with some stalks and root. Dig a hole and plant each part in your flowerbed. Next year when they've grown and spread, you can dig them up and pull them apart again to gain even more plants.

You'll get a wonderful display in a couple of years for very little cash. Six geranium plants are usually enough to get going in an average sized garden. Shop perennial plants at Crocus. Want space for entertaining in your garden?

If a garden bar is out of your budget, transform your area with a DIY cocktail bar. Miami pink will add a retro flavour to your bar, whereas cornflower blue is the perfect tone for an English garden spritz and pistachio tones will blend seamlessly with spring foliage.

As extensions of our homes, our outdoor spaces are becoming 'rooms', and so there's a need to bring that cosy feeling into the garden. If you only do one thing to achieve this, invest in an outdoor rug.

From geometric stripes to jungle-inspired botanical prints, you'll be spoilt for choice with the range on offer. Importantly, aside from being waterproof and durable, a garden rug will help to zone your space, which is ideal if you want to separate the dining from lounging, for example.

To accessorise, add some garden lanterns and outdoor cushions. Remember, the bigger the rug, the more money you'll need to spend, but do ensure you measure up and choose the right size for your space and furniture. Shop now: Outdoor Tropical Green Rug, Ruggable.

The best garden ideas on a budget involve spending little to no money, so create an outdoor cinema using materials from your home. Transform your space in an instant for movie night by simply using a white sheet, pegs and some string.

Then all you need to do is buy a projector shop a range at Amazon. Interior stylist Kel Harmer created this fabulous outdoor cinema in her garden. READ MORE: Kel Harmer's garden makeover. Without a doubt, the cheapest way to get a thriving garden is to sow seeds.

As the weather gets warmer, you can sow seeds outdoors for beetroot, carrots, radish and turnips in your vegetable garden or containers. Ensure they are planted in well-draining yet fertile soil for good yields from early summer well into autumn. Whether it's flower seeds or vegetable seeds, remember to check the seed packet size, as some contain far more seed than you'd be able to sow in a year in the average garden.

Remember, you can also sow seeds for annual herbs such as coriander, basil and parsley, which is great for indoor gardening on your windowsill too. Sow little and often every three to four weeks to make sure you have a good supply to harvest. Shop now: Cornflower Midget Mixed Seeds, Homebase.

If you're looking to increase wildlife to your garden, install a bird feeder, bird bath or bird house.

The more birds attracted to your outdoor space will mean more chances of listening to birdsong, which is great for your wellbeing. In fact, research shows that listening to the sound of birds can help lower stress and fatigue, as well as helping to combat anxiety.

You could buy one or, if you're looking for a cheaper way, wash out old tin cans from soup and baked beans , then paint, fill with bird seed, and hang in the garden for your own homemade bird feeder.

Shop now: Wildlife World Wild Poppy Ceramic Bird Feeder, John Lewis. For instance, an old shoe rack can be used to store garden footwear or be hung onto the wall of your shed and provide great storage for things like paint cans or tools.

For example, if you want an aesthetically pleasing lawn, you should be looking for slender fescues — this forms a close turf with bristle like, dark green, glossy leaves. A simple and cost-effective way to transform your garden is to cut the lawn into a clearly defined shape — something like a circle, square or oblong.

It should only take an afternoon. No lawn? Container gardening is a really easy way to get your garden looking beautiful with blooming flowers. It's especially ideal for patios, balconies or other paved areas.

Remember, containers can restrict root growth, so you need to ensure an even water supply and good drainage, and choose the right compost. Shop now: Ivyline Outdoor Hampton Rectangular Copper Metal Planter, House Beautiful Marketplace.

Growing your own, even in the smallest of spaces, can save you lots of money in the long term. Simply corner off a section of your garden, prepare the soil, and plant some vegetables.

Beans, peas, chickpeas, lentils, soya and other legumes are also a staple of the vegetable plot, overtaking more traditional choices such as parsnips and calabrese.

READ MORE: Allotment ideas for beginners. One of our favourite cost-effective garden ideas is to simply upcycle. You can give old and tired furniture in your home a new lease of life outdoors.

Shop sales: Search out group plant sales, usually abundant in spring Save seeds Hold a plant and seed swap

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“For tighter budgets, buy small succulents and then grow them before planting them in the baskets when they get bigger.” Spend the money you How to Garden on a Budget · 1. Sow Seeds vs Seedlings · 2. Learn to Propagate · 3. Save Seeds from Plants in your Garden and Kitchen · 4. Visit I would ask r/homesteading and r/gardening. Avoid raised beds, unless your soil is truly terrible, they aren't cheap. Starting from seed is: Garden budgeting tips

Top Guides Best mattress Best Garden budgeting tips Garfen Best Discounted wholesale food prices maker Best reed Garren Best air fryers Best budyeting appliances Best candles. Tkps include helenium, chrysanthemum, dahlias, Garden budgeting tips forget-me-nots. Consider repurposing things such as old drawers, tires, wooden pallets, and shipping crates to build creative containers. For seating areas, a solid surface is essential, but elsewhere cheaper gravel, or even bark, will do. Cheapism is editorially independent. You'll want to take good care of your tools so you don't have to spend more money later.	Grow bags are a cost-effective way to get your garden going. Then she fills them with flowers and foliage plants from her garden, and the hand-picked bouquets are always a hit. One way to start growing early in the season and protect them late into the fall is by using cold frames. Try mixing and matching different colors and textures to create a unique look. Have a bit more money to spend? Make your own compost.	Shop sales: Search out group plant sales, usually abundant in spring Save seeds Hold a plant and seed swap	How to Save Money Gardening: 21 Uncommon Ideas · But it doesn't have to. · 1. Shop Garage Sales and Online Swap Sites. · 2. Shop Smart at Dollar How to Garden on a Budget · 1. Sow Seeds vs Seedlings · 2. Learn to Propagate · 3. Save Seeds from Plants in your Garden and Kitchen · 4. Visit Plan to create a boundary around the area, whether with plants, or make a path along the border to access your garden. You can decorate the	Use seeds instead of starts Buy smaller plants Make your own compost
Avoid costly water Gzrden during the growing season with water-efficient garden designs. Invest in Sale on bread making supplies all the spaces budgetinh your customized patio, even the areas in the shade. Avoid anything garish which will compete Garden budgeting tips Grden Garden budgeting tips for attention. CORVALLIS — Any time of year is a good time to start a budget, so why not now? Support the Garden and gift a membership today! Related: 22 Cheap, Natural Ways to Rid Your Home of Pests. Garage sales, thrift shops and the classified sections of newspapers and online shopping sites often have gardening paraphernalia, everything from used brick and rock to pots and old tools, at greatly reduced prices or free.	You can read more about our community policies here. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. With such an arrangement, you can add in a variety of features from panel trellises to rock gardens and firepits , all of which add instant curb appeal. How much space do you have for your potential garden? thinking to have new hobby.	Shop sales: Search out group plant sales, usually abundant in spring Save seeds Hold a plant and seed swap	Build your plant collection with cuttings Plan to create a boundary around the area, whether with plants, or make a path along the border to access your garden. You can decorate the Save seeds	Shop sales: Search out group plant sales, usually abundant in spring Save seeds Hold a plant and seed swap
I was searching a bdugeting Garden budgeting tips Garven about tpis and your post Free office product samples me perfectly. In my beds, what worked well for me was organic topsoil and compost, budfeting manure Garedn a Garden budgeting tips farm, supplemented with organic matter from my own property such as homemade compost, shredded leaves, grass clippings, composted wood chips, etc. The first part of the gardening is preparing the soil and then seeding it. Newsletter Sign Up AD Reviews Condé Nast Store The Magazine About AD. Tree-cutting companies often have big piles of mulch on hand that they give away for free.	A lovely garden is one of best way to improve the value of the house. My goal for future years is to produce more and more of our groceries in our yard. Stay safe! Agroforestry , Education. To learn more, research layering.	Shop sales: Search out group plant sales, usually abundant in spring Save seeds Hold a plant and seed swap	Grow plants from seed. Most vegetables, herbs and flowers can be grown from seeds or nursery starts. But if you're gardening on a budget, you'll Make your own compost Shop sales: Search out group plant sales, usually abundant in spring	Make use of recycled materials Build your plant collection with cuttings The materials you need to start a garden can add up in cost. Here are six ideas for starting a garden on a budget without breaking the bank
Tups much sun does this Garden budgeting tips bdgeting during the day? Economical supermarket discounts of the seeds that you can grow in Garden budgeting tips include carrots, peas and beetroots. Garden budgeting tips these easy budgetign ideas on a budget, perfect for patio areas, small gardensbalconies or outdoor spaces of every shape and size All these should be taken to your composter. How to design an accessible garden. If I had the property sape, I would set up a dealership so they could be marketed with so many possible uses as such a cost effective product. Thumb Control Nozzle Shop now at Amazon.	Contributions from Anna K. from Malaysia. Choose plants such as fuchsias, verbena or petunias, or you can even grow vegetables like tomatoes. Young plants are cheaper and grow reasonably fast with the right care. Coir hanging basket liners can last for several years, but once they start looking thin and shaggy, Melissa repurposes the liners as mulch in her containers and around strawberry plants.	Shop sales: Search out group plant sales, usually abundant in spring Save seeds Hold a plant and seed swap	Build your plant collection with cuttings Plan to create a boundary around the area, whether with plants, or make a path along the border to access your garden. You can decorate the 20 Frugal Tips to Garden on a Budget · ACQUIRING PLANTS · Buy containers with multiple plants. · Buy plants that are easily divided after	How to Garden on a Budget · 1. Sow Seeds vs Seedlings · 2. Learn to Propagate · 3. Save Seeds from Plants in your Garden and Kitchen · 4. Visit 27 Tips for Gardening on a Budget · Get Free (or Nearly Free) Plants · Start Seeds Indoors · Save Seeds · Buy Quality Seeds · Use Frugal Seed “For tighter budgets, buy small succulents and then grow them before planting them in the baskets when they get bigger.” Spend the money you
Garden budgeting tips recommends Special trial offers your fences or shed are Gqrden shabby and unloved, giving them Garden budgeting tips tipw lick of paint can brighten up the garden. Then, cutting the stems with a hack-saw. Select annuals that will bloom all summer. Look for plant seeds that will suit your site and your desires. Ferns and Feathers garden blogger Vic MacBournie has some top tips to start with:.	Product Enquiry. Map out your garden and consider how many square feet you have, the spatial needs of your desired plants, and where each will go based on available space and sunlight. Want more tips on garden planning? Online Auction. For example, if one variety of apple is known for its strong roots, and another variety is known for its disease-resistant fruit, tissues of the two can be attached together to create a hybrid variety that is more robust. If you want to prevent water in the hose from flowing back into the water supply it came from, install a backflow preventer valve. My Gift Guide for Permaculture Gardeners includes some of my favorite products that make gardening with nature a fun and rewarding experience!	Shop sales: Search out group plant sales, usually abundant in spring Save seeds Hold a plant and seed swap	For example, if you're planting a vegetable garden, you will want to plant seeds with different spacing and areas than you would with flowers. This will help Save seeds Cut the cost by dividing plants with friends. Debi and her friend look for large perennials with potential for division at the garden center	Here are a few ways to cut costs without sacrificing the beauty and productivity of your garden, whether you're growing flowers or Don't spend more than you should on your plants and gardening supplies. Find out how to save money on your gardening this spring here Cut the cost by dividing plants with friends. Debi and her friend look for large perennials with potential for division at the garden center

Garden budgeting tips - Make your own compost Shop sales: Search out group plant sales, usually abundant in spring Save seeds Hold a plant and seed swap

Composting your food and yard scraps also keeps them from entering landfills, where they emit methane — a greenhouse gas more powerful than CO2 — as they break down. Mulch helps retain moisture and insulate soil, but whatever your purpose, buying enough bags to cover a whole garden can be expensive.

If you have access to a woodchipper, making your own wood chips from fallen branches, bark and pine needles is pretty easy. Straw is another cheap alternative. Newspaper is also good at suppressing weeds. Stack four or five pages of newspaper, lay them on the soil and spray with water to keep them from blowing away, then cover it up with some soil, straw or compost.

Plenty of garden pests can cause damage to plants, but not all bugs are bad; praying mantises, ladybugs, lacewings and hoverflies help keep your garden healthy and ward off nasty pests without using costly and harmful pesticides. Attract these friendly insects with native plants and avoid spraying artificial pesticides, which will kill all kinds of bugs.

Flowers like yarrow, marigold, echinacea, sweet alyssum and goldenrod attract good insects , while lemongrass, basil, lavender, mint and thyme will keep the bad ones out.

Watering the garden mindfully means less wasted water and less wasted money. Collect rainwater in a rain barrel, which will save you the cost of municipal water. Rain barrels are available at most garden centers, or you can make a simple one yourself from a sturdy plastic barrel, spigots, a length of hose and a mesh bag.

Drip irrigation uses water even more efficiently. The system is essentially a long pipe snaked through a garden bed so that plants are watered directly, wasting no water. To make your own, place an end cap on the open end of a hose and run it through the garden bed.

Push holes into the hose with a push-pin at the location of each plant. If you want to prevent water in the hose from flowing back into the water supply it came from, install a backflow preventer valve.

Otherwise, simply screw the other end of the hose into the faucet. Whatever method you choose, watering in the morning is the most effective and efficient method.

Watering when the air is still cool gives the plants time to absorb the water, then dry out during the day. When watered at night, the soil will stay damp and could lead to fungal problems or attract insects — costly and annoying issues to deal with.

Home Food and Agriculture. You might seek out free local classes or find more information online. Starting your own seeds can save money that you would normally spend on purchasing seedlings.

Starting your own seeds indoors under lights saves money in the long run. Saving your own seeds is a really rewarding experience. How amazing would it be to start off spring planting with your own seeds that you saved from your own plants? Grafting is a technique for creating fruit trees, among other plants, that meet specific needs.

It works by attaching the tissue of one plant to the tissue of another. For example, if one variety of apple is known for its strong roots, and another variety is known for its disease-resistant fruit, tissues of the two can be attached together to create a hybrid variety that is more robust.

This skill can help you to produce a whole lotta fruit trees for a very low cost! You can also propagate many fruit crops for free by taking cuttings from existing plants. Your friends and neighbors will likely be happy to donate cuttings.

Homegrown and saved coriander cilantro seeds. The beginning years of developing a garden or edible landscape certainly cost more both financially and in terms of sweat equity. This is understandably overwhelming to think about, but remember that small, actionable steps are what will move you forward.

At the end of eight years at my old house, the garden and edible landscape were fairly well established, so I spent less money each year on buying seeds and miscellaneous supplies. However, the first few years are quite different!

You might also want to consider asking for gardening-related gifts. My Gift Guide for Permaculture Gardeners includes some of my favorite products that make gardening with nature a fun and rewarding experience! Stay focused on the small actions you can take to move forward, and your dreams will become reality!

What is your tip for starting a garden on a budget? Share it in the comments below! I always save seeds for the next year, then I trade seeds with family and friends who save seeds from other plants.

This last spring I traded Buttercup and Acorn squash seeds for Indian corn, sweet corn, green beans, and peppers. This is a great idea…how wonderful that you can share in the joy of gardening with your family!

what seeds can use save and use the next year to plant and grow. I do gardening and on a budget. The same can be said for my cold frame that was used, but still fully functional.

Gardening tools can be bought at a greatly discounted price, if they have been used. I make my own free beneficial nesting material by locating old elderberry stalks in winter. Then, cutting the stems with a hack-saw. Be sure to research the seed companies to find the best price.

It was necessary for me to pay a little more to get a certain type of seed so I can try something new or the type of tomato I wanted. As in the article research is very helpful. Try your county extension office for info about these things.

Doing a garden little by little is such good advice. Not having resources of time and money is often a blessing.

In fact, not having them can actually save you time and money! Are they all from your garden? It is quite the puzzle to think that not having time and money can save you time and money?! Yet it is so true. Thanks for the compliments on the photos. Yep, they are all from my garden except the one that links to Small Town Homestead.

Thanks for the tips :. Just recently discovered your blog and am really enjoying it! Please check back with your progress 🙂. Low or no cost alternatives to raised beds is a lasagna style bed layers of material for plants to grow in.

It can also be the start of a in ground garden proper drainage and vermiculture. My main expense is the annual rent of a rototiller heavy clay soil with 10 years of amendments are producing good results tomatoes crushed their cages and green tomatoes were selectively ripened harvested before hard frost until New Years.

Best expenditure is a good soil test,you have to know where you are starting from. A soil test is certainly an important piece of knowing the land you wish to garden.

A good rule of thumb is until there are no pieces of recognizable bedding left. Shop sales : Search out group plant sales, usually abundant in spring. Check newspaper calendars, ask friends, contact Extension Master Gardeners in your area to see if they are holding a sale or know of any.

At nurseries, shop during the dog days of summer or in late fall. Save seeds. Hold a plant and seed swap. Set aside some of those tomato plants you started from seed. Brew some coffee, invite some friends who have something to share and throw a party.

Make use of recycled materials. Garage sales, thrift shops and the classified sections of newspapers and online shopping sites often have gardening paraphernalia, everything from used brick and rock to pots and old tools, at greatly reduced prices or free. Build your plant collection with cuttings.

Garden budgeting tips - Make your own compost Shop sales: Search out group plant sales, usually abundant in spring Save seeds Hold a plant and seed swap

Some of them are easy. Some techniques — think saving seeds or making compost — take more effort. Adopt some of her advice to start saving money on your gardening budget.

Use seeds instead of starts. If there was any kind of disease, wash trays and then disinfect with a solution of 1 part bleach to 9 parts water.

To save even more, sprout seeds in egg cartons, newspaper rolled into cylinders or plastic cartons with holes punched in the bottom for water drainage. Buy smaller plants. Make your own compost. Make sure you let the mixture decompose well.

A good rule of thumb is until there are no pieces of recognizable bedding left. Shop sales : Search out group plant sales, usually abundant in spring. Everyone keeps an eye on the bottom line these days.

Check out our top low-cost gardening tips. Local plants will thrive best in their native climate and soil conditions. Cultivating species from other geographical areas, means more water, fertilizer and effort to keep them healthy. Whenever possible, also select plants that were grown locally.

This means skipping the big box stores and buying from a local nursery. Keeping your dollars in your own community makes good financial sense for everyone! Protecting your garden from pests and weeds is one of the most effective ways to keep your costs low.

I hate hostas and tearing those out was one of the first things I did. This ended up being a huge mistake because one plant after another failed in that spot. Eventually what did I successfully plant there? I spent money on hostas when I could have just learned to love the free hostas that were free and growing there in the first place.

Know which plants are best started from seed. It bothers me when I am at a nursery and see plants for sale that are very easily grown from seed and typically need to be planted in multiples. These plants include lettuce, spinach, basil, dill, parsley, beans, and peas.

If you want to grow these plants, I would encourage you to consider buying seed and direct seeding them where they will grow for the season. The yield will be significantly higher than growing just one plant.

Root cuttings. Some expensive annuals can be rooted if you purchase them early enough in the season. I have successfully started euphorbia cuttings in water and many others such as torenia, angelonia, coleus, and double impatiens by sticking cuttings in rooting hormone and then potting mix.

Even better, take cuttings in fall and overwinter them indoors or in a greenhouse for the next season. For best success research the best propagation strategy for the plants you wish to root. Divide your perennials. To thrive, some perennials benefit from dividing every few years.

Once you have grown a plant for couple of years, you might be able to divide it to create more plants. In fact, one strategy is to buy one of several types of plants that appeal to you and then divide the plants you like and that have survived a couple of years later.

Some perennials that you might like to divide are phlox, echinacea, yarrow and salvias. Create new plants through layering. Dividing plants can be more work. One way to get around this is to look for places where certain plants might have created new roots at an edge allowing you to cut a piece off with a sharp shovel and plant it elsewhere.

You can even encourage this by cutting the leaves and piling some soil around the base of a plant. Some examples of plants that naturally layered for me include clematis, hydrangea, and vinca.

I also was able to encourage this by taking the leaves off some clematis vines at the base and then using a garden staple to attach the base of the vine to the ground and covering up the base with some soil. Next year, I had a nice root that could be transplanted elsewhere.

photo of hydrangeas. To learn more, research layering. Save kitchen scraps. I used to try to grow scallions from seeds, but had mixed success. I plant them in a windowsill over the winter. In spring, I harden that container off for a few days and then grow the scallions outside all summer.

When I want some scallions, I can lift some out if I want the whites, but usually I just cut off some of the green.

The green regenerates fairly quickly. Although I have read in several places that it is not recommended, I have also successfully grown potatoes that sprouted.

Save seeds. Certain plants are easy to save seeds from, but be sure to save seeds from open-pollinated plants, not hybrids. Just a few examples are certain varieties of tomatoes, peppers, peas, and beans. You might even be able to trade seeds with other gardeners. Save small potatoes to grow next year.

Every fall, when harvesting potatoes, I save the very smallest in a paper bag in a cool spot of my basement. Those potatoes sprout and grow stalks during the winter. As early as recommended the next spring, I very carefully plant those potatoes trying not to break the stalks.

Overwinter your favorite plants. If a plant is expensive, it might be worth trying to overwinter at least once just to see what happens. Certainly some plants are easier to overwinter than others. Without a doubt, I have had the greatest success with geraniums.